On Sunday, January 12, 70 pro-lifers gathered in front of the Hilton Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto to picket Ontario Premier David Peterson as he attended a meeting and dinner with Prime Minister Nakasone of Japan.
Premier Peterson drove past the picket line an hour earlier than his announced arrival. He did not stop to speak to the protesters.
The picket was very successful according to one of the organizers, Fr. Lawrence Abello. He said, “The ongoing picketing of Premier Peterson is to stress the fact that he is continuing to misinform the public that nothing can be done to close the Morgentaler abortuary.” He commented further that this particular picket was “timely and positive” in view of the fact that “Harbord Street merchants have questioned how they can be charged hundreds of times for violating the Sunday shopping laws when Morgentaler’s abortuary continues to operate.”
St. Lawrence Centre
On Thursday, January 16, 50 pro-life pickets were in attendance at the St. Lawrence Centre to greet Premier Peterson as he attended a theatre performance.
The Premier had no choice at this location but to stop and talk to the picketers as they surrounded him as he emerged from his car. However, the Premier has usually tried to make the best of a bad situation, especially when the press are around, by shaking hands with the picketers and saying how glad he is to see them. This seeming friendliness looks good on a 12 or 15 second spot on the evening news. Picketers are aware of this strategy and attempt to get him to answer publicly why he has not kept his promise and closed the abortuary and why he protects criminals. The answer is always the same: “It’s before the courts,” or “There is nothing I can do.”
He tried this tactic again at the St. Lawrence Centre but, when he held out his hand to one picketer, she said, “I don’t shake hands with liars.”
Police finally pushed the pro-lifers out of the way and the Premier was saved from any more embarrassing questions as he was hustled into the theatre.
Experienced picketing organizers said of this picket that, although many theatergoers approached them to wish them well, the attending audience was by far the most hostile group that have walked through the pro-life picket lines at a Peterson Picket. They report that even after they entered the theatre they turned and stood and stared coldly at the protesters through the glass doors. One woman stopped to give a pro-lifer a long pro-abortion lecture. Another asked incredulously, “And why are you young women here?”
